Disclaimer: I do not own Mulan.

Falling

Summary

She felt the rope slip from her fingers, felt her last breath leave her . . . she felt the snow as it crushed her body and the darkness encompass her forever. Fa Ping died a hero. Alternate ending to Consiquences.

This is the much awaited alternate story to Consequences! I haven't had much time

lately to write, but this came to my mind and I had to write it. Hope you all like it.

Chapter 1

Snowfall

Shouting. Fear. Rage.

It surrounded her, suffocated her, until she could no longer stand it and shut everything away, forcing her rising panic down.

Maybe she was never meant to be a soldier.

The Huns poured down the snow crested hills by the dozens, seeming to block out the white landscape with their dark furs and terrifyingly huge mounts. There didn't seem to be an end to them.

Next to the Huns, their small resistance was nothing.

China would fall.

Ping felt her breath still, her eyes widening in realization. Everything that she had worked for, everything that she had done to protect her father and later to gain approval from her fellow soldiers . . . it was all going to be for nothing if they didn't do something.

It was that thought that kicked her brain back in gear and she glanced around at all of her huddled companions, distantly heard the blasting of cannons, and tried to think.

I need something they haven't planned for. Something that they wouldn't expect . . .

Her sword reflected the sun for a second as she shifted, bringing her eyes back toward it and its reflection . . . and then she knew.

A mountain, heavy with snow, hovered just beyond the Hun army. All it would take was a single blast to set it tumbling. That much snow would crush the Hun's before they could escape and China's own soldiers could shelter against the rocks near the cliffs.

"Aim the last cannon at Shan-Yu!" Shang yelled from next to her, determination in his voice. This was their last chance.

Before Ping could consider the consequences of her actions, before she could think through what she was about to do, she lunged at the shooter and tore the cannon from his grasp. Within seconds she was plowing her way forward through the knee deep snow toward the Hun army.

This had better work.

She fell to her knees and dug the cannon into the snow, angling it just right for what she planned, and then reached for the spark stones. She fumbled for a second and then cursed as the rocks dropped from her numb hands at the attack of a hawk and fell into the deep snow.

If Mushu hadn't appeared at that moment, she knew that everything would have been for naught.

"What are you – Ack!" Mushu squawked as she grabbed him by his tail and middle then proceeded to yank him straight, his mouth near the fuse. She was thankful that a spark managed to leave him in his surprise and catch fire to the firing string. Seconds later the cannon fired and Ping rolled back out of the way of the trampling hooves of Shan-Yu's horse as it neighed in confusion and reared.

For the first time since placing the cannon in the snow Ping looked up and felt ice slide down her throat. Shan-Yu was tall and bulky, dressed in thick furs that covered everything but his face. His eyes followed the path of the cannon for a few seconds in confusion and then widened as it hit the mountain.

Being from the north he knew the dangers of the swiftly tumbling snow that was now thundering its way down the slopes of the mountain, picking up speed, size, and momentum as it went.

He turned to her, rage echoing though his voice as he razed his sword and brought it down. It was all too fast for her to react. One moment she had been staring up at him in fear and the next pain burned though her side as he galloped past, desperately trying to outrun the raging snow.

Ping held back a sob and stumbled to her feet, knowing that she had to get back to the rocks at the bottom of the hill. It was the only safe place in the coming snow. She stumbled forward, gritted her teeth, and then took off in a run.

Her mind was blank, only the thoughts of survival running through her as she plowed her way through the snow, snagging her stunned captain as she did so. Distantly she wondered why he had come all the way out there with her, but decided not to ponder it at the moment.

Though they were fast, the snow was faster. It had gained speed as it came down the hill and Mulan knew that they would never outrun it, no matter how fast they were going. Her horse galloped to her side and she swung on, ignoring the pain, before turning to offer her hand to Shang.

He lunged for her hand, but the snow caught up to him first. Mulan and her horse were able to stay above the snow miraculously, but she knew that their luck would not last long. The cliff was fast approaching and she could see the snow beginning to fall from its edge like water in a waterfall. Her eyes searched for Shang, hoping beyond hope that she could save him.

Her brown eyes finally latched on to his unconscious form resurfacing close to them and she dragged him onto her horse's back while Mushu - when had he gotten here? - scrambled onto her shoulder. She urged her horse to fight against the current of the snow, even though she knew that it was a loosing battle.

She closed her eyes for a moment when the inevitable feeling of tipping over the edge came and her horse screamed in fright. Her breath picked up even as her mind calmed.

She wasn't going to make it out of this.

A glint in the sky caught her attention and she turned just in time to see an arrow bury itself in the snow next to her. A small, sad smile slipped over her features as she grabbed it just as she felt gravity begin to take them down.

Mulan glanced between the arrow, the figures on the other end of the rope, and the unconscious body in her lap, and knew that the weight would be too much for one man to pull up. That and, even if they both made it back up, she still had her wound which needed medical attention. When it was discovered that she was actually a women, she would be killed and considered a traitor by everyone she had come to know.

It was better to die a friend then to die a traitor. It took her less then a moment to make her decision.

Mulan wrapped the rope around Shang's form and shot the arrow back up to the person or people who had sent it. Within seconds Shang was dragged from her grasp as she continued her plunge below.

She felt the rope slip from her fingers, felt her last breath leave her . . . she felt the snow as it crushed her body and the darkness encompassed her forever.

"Ancestors, if you are watching, let my sacrifice not be in vain."

0~o~0

Shang groaned and rubbed his head as he got up, looking around at his soldiers for the one he was searching for, the one who had saved his life, "Where is Ping?" he asked when he could not find him, but all he got in response were devastated faces, and his heart sank.

"Where is he?!" Shang demanded, this time an order.

The three soldiers that had been Ping's closest friends looked down and shifted their feet before Yao replied, a new level of devastation in his voice that Shang had never heard before, "You both went over the edge . . . Ping didn't come back up."

In a quiet voice Po added, "He sacrificed himself so that you could live, so that you could continue to lead us."

No.

No.

Not Ping. Not determined, unwavering, undaunted Ping who never once showed fear in the face of danger. It couldn't be possible.

He can't be dead.

Shang scrambled to the edge, several arms grasping his own, as if afraid that he would through himself off after Ping. He turned his gaze down, but it was impossible to see through the drifting snow to the bottom.

"Ping!" he yelled, desperately. Ping had not only been an inspiration to the troops, he had also been an inspiration to Shang. He had showed the captain that he could never give up. He had been something like a friend to Shang, someone who even if he could not understand, he could show his support to.

"Ping!" his voice cracked and he waited for a moment, hoping beyond hope that he would hear the distant, slightly high pitched voice of Ping, but he was answered only with silence and the echo of his own voice coming back to him.

Ping was gone.

0~o~0

The honored heroes marched up to the palace where the Emperor was waiting for them. Despite the cheers of the people all around them, they could feel nothing but sadness. They had lost one of their most valued members, the one who truly deserved the title Hero of China. Ping was the one who had wiped out the entire Hun army in one blow, and it was Ping who should have been here, with them.

But he was not here, and the remaining soldiers felt helpless at their inability to save him. Their march to the Emperor was not one of honor in their eyes, it was one of failure, for they had failed the one that truly deserved their respect. The procession paused before the Emperor and Shang bowed before their ruler, holding out the wavy sword.

"May I present the sword of Shan-Yu," he said, his voice projecting over the crowd.

The Emperor reached for it, but before he could lift it from Shang's hands a darkly colored hawk swooped down and plucked the blade from his hands. Shang gasped and stumbled back, watching as the Hawk flew up to the roof and dropped the sword into the waiting hands of Shan-Yu himself who sat perched upon one of the palace's roofs.

The Hun grinned darkly and stood up, his shadowed form highlighted against the sky.

Shang's breath hitched.

It's not over yet.

0~o~0

I know it's been a long time but a lot of people wanted this and, as I don't have all that many good ideas for a continuation of Consequences at the moment, I decided that I would give it a shot.

As most of you have probably already noticed, this first chapter is very similar to Consequences. I did that for a reason. Consequences could have originally gone two ways. Ping could have died and this story would have been created . . . or she lived, and the other one would have been put up. Obviously, I went with her living and as such this is going to be the opposite.

I hope you all like the up and coming chapters. Look forward to this and a possible continuation of the Consequences storyline!

(Updated: 8/_/2016)